Kukla's Korner Hockey

With the salary cap dropping to $64.3 million and the Kings already committed to just over $56 million to 15 players with eight players still to sign to fill out the 23-man roster, there just isn’t enough left in the kitty to pay Penner who will become an unrestricted free agent on July 5.

Penner is coming off a 1-year, $3.25 million contract and though he will likely have to take a paycut regardless of where he signs, Penner is likely to field offers in the range of $1.5-$2 million per season. The Kings would only be in a position to offer him a deal in the area of $800-900K.

This is the type of low risk high reward player I’d love to go after this off-season for the Wings. Do not go after Horton, Bickell, and Clarkson because you’re gonna have to over pay big time. Instead take on a project and see if he can get it going again.

If Penner is passed over in free agency, I wouldn’t minde Holland taking a run at him. Obviously, he’s not worth a big contract, but for cheap, he’s worth taking a flyer on to see if the Wings can help him make use of his size and talent.

I wouldn’t normally disagree with this, but the Wings really aren’t in a position to “take on a project and see if he can get it going again.” The roster crunch is already tight as it is and the Wings can’t really afford to burn one of their roster spots on a project at this time. That would mean they would have to trade or waive some other player. I think, at this point, the Wings best bet in freen agency is targeting more of a “sure thing”. They have the cap space to do so.

....he thought he was getting a four-time 20-goal scorer…..But in 117 regular season games with the Kings, he scored a disappointing 11 goals and 26 assists

He WAS getting a 20-time goal scorer. In the prior 144 games in Edmonton, he tallied 102 pts. The guy had 5 successful seasons and then went to LA and tanked. So what happened?

I’d be happy if Holland takes a go at him. At the low price, we could get a 40 pt guy that can throw his weight around. Or we could get a player who struggles to earn some meager bucks. Either way, don’t cost much.

Ajax19 mentions the roster crunch, a valid point. I’d be ok trading one of the young guys for picks. Better that than losing them to waivers and trading a #1 pick to get them back in a few years.

Kenny can’t win it seems. When we all gripe about the need for a top 3 defenseman, what exactly do we think that will cost? Every trade always costs too much, every UFA is always way overpriced. Go after a bargain guy like Penner, he’s not good enough, he’s a bum! We need a Filppula but not the Filppula we got, the one we want! But not at that price!

Detroit can sit tight and develop the young guys and hope it works out. That route would probably get them into the playoffs again, maybe a deep run. A Cup? Doubtful. Or they can spend serious cash on a UFA.

You wanna know who is always overpriced? Every UFA. Get used to it. So when you go on and on about how Kenny needs to pull the trigger, don’t immediately start complaining about how much it will cost.

We can have an overpaid UFA or a trade for players we don’t want to give up or the current roster.

you guys who are willing to take a shot at Penner obviously did not watch enough Kings games over the past few years. Penner is a big body, yes, but most nights he plays like a 5’7” rookie. He doesn’t skate hard, he doesn’t check, he doesn’t get to open ice, he doesn’t use his body to his advantage. This will frustrate you to no end as it did Sutter who benched him for a handful of games this year. Does he show up for the playoffs? sure he does. But he is a liability on most other nights.